RANGERS boss Ally McCoist shrugged off another Sunday slugging match as his side stayed well clear on top of Division Three.

Peterhead had five players booked and striker Rory McAllister sent off as Gers won thanks to Fran Sandaza’s goal.

Midfielder Ian Black was subbed after being injured when he collided with the advertising hoarding after a fierce — but fair — challenge by Dean Cowie.

However McCoist grinned: “Blackie’s okay — but the hoarding’s going to be out for three weeks!”

And he laughed off suggestions that it had been another tough afternoon for his side.

He insisted: “I think the physicality has been taken out of the game too much so I’m not going to be hypocritical and complain about some of the tough tackling our players received.

“It’s part-and-parcel of the game, the referee’s got a job to do, and we’ve got absolutely no complaints.

“We’re big boys, we get on with it.

“Blackie got a few slaps but he and Dean Shiels have had a bug that’s floored them for four or five days.

“That was one of the reasons for taking him off and why Shielsy was on the bench.

“While we’ve no complaints about the tackling, I think the players have toughened up. I think after the first game of the season they had to.

“It was a shock to them at first but they are certainly handling it a lot better.

“We’re getting some good away results and a lot of it is based on resilience and solidity, especially defensively.

“We were certainly a lot better than we were on the first day of the season up here.

“We’re delighted with the progress but it’s a minute step in where we’re aiming to go.”

But McCoist was again critical of his side’s finishing after they missed a succession of opportunities to make the game safe.

He said: “I’m delighted with the three points but our decision-making towards the end was poor and the finishing again wasn’t at the level it should be. We’re creating chances and we should be making it far more comfortable in the last 20 minutes.

“If you don’t, you run the risk of losing something from a set-piece. Thankfully today it didn’t happen, whereas against Elgin it did.

“We’re carrying a little bit of luck, the Elgin game apart.

“We have to work on our finishing and be more clinical. It’s that simple.

“That said, we’ve won 12 out of 13 so they’re doing a lot more right than wrong.”

McCoist paid tribute to central defensive pairing Emilson Cribari and Ross Perry, noting that the Brazilian played in short sleeves on an icy north-east day.

He said: “I think games like this are a shock to Emilson’s system.

“But that was one of the most important factors of the game — how our centre-backs handled the aggression.

“They did it really well, which we needed. If they didn’t fancy it we were in trouble.

“I also thought Kyle Hutton did a fantastic job, especially in the second half. It was probably his best game.

“Sandaza got his reward today for his endeavours last week, when he played well without scoring.

“There was an extra cheer when he scored. He’s taken another whack, but maybe he’s one of these guys who gets those.

“I’m hopeful this will give him more confidence and he’ll go on and score a few more.”